In 1859 at Tuckerville Colliery in Schuylkill County, 32-year-old Irish mineworker John Hinch was pulled headfirst into the breaker rollers - an unthinkable death reported in chilling detail by the Miners’ Journal. His story lays bare the daily peril of Coal Region work before safety laws existed. Read the full story.
Discover mid-19th century Pottsville as Schuylkill County’s industrial heart: surrounded by anthracite mines, its iron works churned out pumps and engines fueling the coal trade and railroads. Illustrated maps and photos bring these bygone factories to life. Step back into Pottsville’s smoky past. Read the full story.
Annie Marion MacLean’s 1908 study of Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal fields lays bare company-owned housing, four-room houses crammed with twenty to thirty boarders, beds shared by day and night shifts, vermin and filth, $1-per-room rents—and the gradual climb to 5 or 6 room homes, parlors, gardens, and disappearing boarders. Read the full story.
"A House of Dynamite" feels like "The Day After" for our time - twenty minutes to impact, systems failing, human flaws laid bare. I trace its terror, from COG bunkers at Raven Rock to nuclear war scenarios, and why this film should jolt us toward reform like "The Day After" did in the 1980s. Read the full story.
Historian Matt Maris of Local Historia joins the Public History podcast to explore how immersive walking tours turn Bellefonte, PA's layered stories into pride, tourism, and revitalization. We discuss origins, craft, and why guided walks power small-town public history across Pennsylvania - and beyond. Listen to the show and subscribe!
On an October morning in 1864, six miners entered a Schuylkill County colliery and never returned. Despite a frantic rescue, all were lost—with grieving families left behind. This Civil War–era disaster reveals the peril that stalked Pennsylvania’s coal towns before safety laws and reforms followed. Read the full story.
The 1902 Coal Strike ended on October 23, 1902, with thousands of miners returning to work across Northeastern Pennsylvania. The resolution, driven by President Theodore Roosevelt’s intervention, secured wage increases and shorter hours, reshaping American labor relations while bolstering the United Mine Workers of America. Read the full story.
In the summer of 1865, victory won in the Civil War, Pennsylvania’s soldiers expected to go home—except the 202nd. Sent instead to the Coal Region to guard mine operators and intimidate striking workers, they called it “disgraceful duty.” A fiery letter from Tamaqua revealed disgust, defiance, and weariness. Read the full story.
In 1892, a Halloween prank in Plymouth, PA backfired when a would-be “ghost” tried to spook trolley crews on night-time duty. Instead of fleeing in terror, the motormen and conductors grabbed the costumed prankster and hauled him aboard. The joke ended with an unmasked walk home. Read the full story.
In October 1952, President Harry S. Truman rolled into Pottsville on a campaign stop for Adlai Stevenson. It was the first time a sitting U.S. president visited Schuylkill County, and thousands packed the streets and stadium to hear him speak. His words touched directly on the Coal Region’s struggles with unemployment, the decline of anthracite, and the promise of new industry. It was a moment of history in Pottsville, even if the county ultimately swung for Eisenhower that November. Read the full story and listen to the speech.